WAFLW Round 8 WrapMonday, May 1, 2023 - 8:56 AM - by Chris Pike

SOUTH Fremantle continued to make history with another terrific WAFLW win in Round 8 on Sunday while West Perth also stunned Subiaco, Swan Districts' form continues to build and Claremont remains the lone undefeated team.

With the rapid improvement of South Fremantle and West Perth this WAFLW season along with the resurgence of Subiaco and just how impressive Claremont continues to be, things are in a fascinating position after Round 8.

The weekend's action all took place on Sunday afternoon beginning with South Fremantle beating Peel Thunder for the first time. They did so in emphatic fashion too winning 12.10 (82) to 1.2 (8) at Mandurah's Lane Group Stadium.

West Perth also beat Subiaco for the first time in the WAFLW competition with the Falcons prevailing 6.5 (41) to 4.6 (30) at Leederville Oval.

Swan Districts continued its rapid improvement too with a third consecutive win and handing East Fremantle back-to-back losses in the process by winning 8.8 (56) to 4.3 (27) at Steel Blue Oval.

Claremont remained clear on top of the ladder undefeated by holding East Perth scoreless on the way to a 12.13 (85) to 0.0 (0) victory at Revo Fitness Stadium.

That all means that at the end of Round 8, it's Claremont clear on top of the ladder with a perfect 7-0 record. South Fremantle sits second with five wins, a loss and a draw.

East Fremantle is just clinging to third spot with a 4-3 record ahead of the chasing pack with Subiaco holding on to third position with three wins, three defeats and a draw.

Swan Districts is now banging on the door of fourth spot at 3-4 with West Perth also 3-4 ahead of Peel Thunder (2-5) and East Perth (0-7).

Meanwhile, Round 8 in the Rogers Cup got underway on Saturday with Claremont defeating East Perth 4.5 (29) to 3.2 (20). Savannah Muir kicked three goals for the Tigers while the goal scorers for the Royals were Mia Pappas, Baylee Turner and Hannah Challender.

Then on Sunday, South Fremantle defeated Perth 10.9 (69) to 5.1 (31) at Mineral Resources Park. Ava Hutchinson kicked three goals for the Bulldogs with Tiara Hodgson, Imogen Stanners and Rosie Anderson adding two apiece. Paige Linton kicked two goals for the Demons.

West Perth also beat Subiaco 9.10 (64) to 2.6 (18) at Leederville Oval with Hayley Bidefeld and Elli Van Den Broeke kicking two goals each for the Falcons. The Lions goals came from Abbey Partridge and Jessica Bickley.

The round wrapped up with a thriller that saw East Fremantle beat Swan Districts 6.6 (42) to 5.9 (39) at Steel Blue Oval. Siena Jezierski-Brown kicked two goals for the Sharks as did Jasmyn Ihanimo for the Swans.

 

WAFLW PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 8

PEEL THUNDER 1.2 (8) lost to SOUTH FREMANTLE 12.10 (82)

South Fremantle created another slice of history in Mandurah on Sunday beating Peel Thunder for the first time in a dominant performance to win by 74 points.

Peel had won the first five matches in the WAFLW competition against South Fremantle by an average of 36 points, but things changed dramatically at Lane Group Stadium in their first match up on 2023.

The Bulldogs were fresh off a first ever derby win against East Fremantle last week and dominated the Thunder kicking 12 goals to one on the way to the 12.10 (82) to 1.2 (8) victory.

Makaela Tuhakaraina was dynamic up forward in the win for South Fremantle kicking three goals from six kicks to go with four marks and two tackles.

Bethany Bond was also brilliant kicking three goals from 20 possessions with Hunter Cronin adding two goals from seven kicks, three marks and two tackles.

It was another dominant showing in the ruck from Ariana Hetherington as she finished with 19 touches, 26 hit outs, seven inside-50 entries and a goal.

Bulldogs captain Lauren Vecchio was also tremendous with 26 possessions, nine marks and three tackles with Kloe Bassett collecting 24 touches, Charli Wicksteed 19, Pia Durk 19, Kahra Sprlyan 16 and Casey Byrne 15 as she celebrated her 100-game milestone.

Peel's lone goal came from Tanisha Anderson with one of her four kicks for the game.

Thunder captain Ebony Dowson did what she could to lead her team off half-back with 24 possessions and four tackles.

Chelsea Hutchinson also had 20 disposals, Greta McKinley 17, Ebony Bilcich 13 and Krystal Carter 12 to go with six tackles.

It took almost seven minute for the first goal of the game and that was kicked by South Fremantle thanks to Kiara Templeman.

Makaela Tuhakaraina soon added another and then a third goal of the quarter for the Bulldogs from Hunter Cronin and South Fremantle were leading by 19 points by quarter-time.

The Bulldogs made the perfect start to the second quarter and it took less than a minute for Tuhakaraina to kick her second goal of the contest.

Bethany Bond soon added another for South Fremantle before Cronin kicked her second, and Ella Ward another with the Bulldogs holding the Thunder goalless in the opening half to be on top by 46 points by the main break.

A third goal for Tuhakaraina gave the Bulldogs a terrific start to the second half as well with the lead growing to 53 points. It was out to 10-goal margin by three quarter-time with Leila Fotu kicking another shortly before the final break.

Ariana Hetherington then kicked the first goal of the last quarter before Bond had a purple patch with two more in quick time. Peel did close the game with its lone goal of the contest courtesy of Tanisha Anderson, but it didn’t stop South Fremantle winning by 74 points.

 

SUBIACO 4.6 (30) lost to WEST PERTH 6.5 (41)

West Perth put itself right back in the WAFLW top four hunt while beating Subiaco for the first time in their second season with the 11-point victory.

Subiaco was back home at Leederville Oval looking for a third straight win against West Perth, but the Falcons had other ideas and could very well have scored their best ever win in the WAFLW in the process.

Subiaco came into the game in fourth position but West Perth closed that gap on the back of the 6.5 (41) to 4.6 (30) victory set up with a three-goal to one second quarter to lead by 16 points at half-time, and going on to win by 11.

Bianca Webb produced a strong all-round performance up forward for West Perth finishing with 13 possessions, eight marks, seven tackles and two goals.

There were plenty of terrific players in the win for the Falcons including Emily Bennett finishing with 23 possessions, seven tackles, six marks and three inside-50 entries.

Grace Betti also racked up 19 touches, Jess Roper 16, Kayla Van Den Heever 15 and Jeevna Heer 14 to go with six marks, four tackles and three inside-50 entries.

Jess Ritchie kicked two goals for Subiaco from eight kicks to go with three marks, six hit outs and two inside-50 entries.

Subiaco captain Tarni Golisano was again terrific with 28 possessions, four inside 50s and three tackles with Grace Hahnel picking up 17 disposals, Jess Pillera 15, Clare McCarthy 14 and Hayley Corlett 13 to go with a goal.

Tess Lyons also had another strong showing in the ruck with 11 disposals, 21 hit outs and three marks.

Subiaco started well looking to remain undefeated against West Perth in the WAFLW with the game's first goal courtesy of Jess Ritchie after just six minutes.

However, West Perth worked into the game nicely from there with the last three scores of the opening quarter and eventually a goal to Tia Bergin which saw the Falcons take a three-point edge into quarter-time.

West Perth then kept that momentum going to start the second quarter with goals to Katherine Bennett and Bianca Webb inside the opening nine minutes. Another goal heading towards half-time to Webb and the Falcons lead was out to 22 points.

Subiaco did stay in touch just before half-time with a goal to Ritchie, but West Perth remained in control with the only goal of the third quarter thanks to Grace Betti.

Subiaco only managed three behinds in the third term with West Perth still leading by 19 points at three quarter-time as a result.

The Lions weren’t going down without a fight, though, with goals to Kelsey Patterson and Hayley Corlett. Another behind at the 15-minute mark and it was all set up for a thrilling finish with Subiaco cutting the deficit to five points.

The win was sealed for West Perth at the siren thanks to Liza Kneebone and the Falcons won by 11 points to close in on the fourth position held by Subiaco.

 

SWAN DISTRICTS 8.8 (56) defeated EAST FREMANTLE 4.3 (27)

Swan Districts continues to build some momentum this WAFLW season on the back of a third straight win beating East Fremantle by 29 points on Sunday.

Swans might have lost the opening four matches of the 2023 WAFLW season, but the black-and-whites came into Sunday's clash at Steel Blue Oval against the Sharks with confidence on the back of wins against West Perth and East Perth.

East Fremantle was attempting to hit back from a first ever derby loss last Saturday night to South Fremantle, but it wasn’t to be with Swan Districts proving too strong to score a third successive victory.

Swans would go on to score the 8.8 (56) to 4.3 (27) victory on the back of collecting 71 more possessions as a team, having 10 extra inside-50 entries and 16 scoring shots to seven in the 29-point victory.

Courtney Zappara produced a brilliant performance up forward for Swan Districts and she threatened to have a historic goalkicking performance. In the end she kicked four goals from nine shots with five behinds as well from her 11 kicks and five marks.

The other goals from Swans were kicked by Kayley King, Naomi Baker, Lily Paterson and Teyharna Curry.

Ruby Mahony had another standout performance through the middle for Swan Districts finishing with 25 possessions and seven tackles with King also gathering 21 disposals and Abbygail Bushby 17.

There were plenty more strong contributors with Indiana West gathering 15 touches, Daisy Rigby 15, Jess Cox 15, Tyla Fitzgerald 13, Naomi Baker 13, Hope Ugle-Hayward 13 and Paterson 13.

Chloe Reilly kept her strong form in attack going for East Fremantle kicking three goals from four kicks. The other goal for the Sharks came from Jasmine Johansen.

Sharon Wong is a remarkably consistent midfielder for East Fremantle and she had another 19 possessions and nine tackles with Ashleigh Gomes also gathering 19 disposals, Chloe Williams 13, Beth Beckett 11 and Caylen Crook 11.

Swan Districts came into the clash with some momentum after winning the last two games but with East Fremantle desperate to bounce back from a loss to South Fremantle, it was set up to be a terrific contest.

However, Swans dominated from the outset and were the only team who managed to score in the entire first half.

That included first quarter goals for Swan Districts from Lily Paterson and then two from Courtney Zappara to see the home team take a 19-point advantage into quarter-time.

Swans kept the momentum going into the second term with goals to Kayley King and then a third of the afternoon to Zappara. They held East Fremantle scoreless to half-time to head into the break leading by 34 points.

Little changed after the break with Swans remaining in control and kicking two more goals in the opening 12 minutes of the second half. That included a first to Teyharna Curry before Zappara kicked her fourth of the game with the lead growing to 49 points.

East Fremantle finally got on the board with a goal to Chloe Reilly at the 16-minute mark but still by three quarter-time and Swan Districts were on top by 44 points.

East Fremantle had the better of the fourth quarter with a couple more goals to Reilly and another to Jasmine Johansen, but Swans also added their eighth of the game on the way to the eventual 29-point victory to make it three wins on the trot.

 

CLAREMONT 12.13 (85) defeated EAST PERTH 0.0 (0)

It always threatened to be a lopsided contest and that's how it played out at Revo Fitness Stadium with Claremont beating East Perth by 85 points.

Claremont is the reigning WAFLW premiers and has so far gone through undefeated this season on the back of that while East Perth has only just joined the competition this season and has found the going tough without a victory.

Things went to script on Sunday at Revo Fitness Stadium with the Tigers dominating the Royals. Not only did Claremont kick the only 12 goals and hold East Perth scoreless, but also had 132 extra possessions for the game while taking 49 marks to 17, and having 44 inside-50 entries to seven.

Claremont ended up winning 12.13 (85) to 0.0 (0) with the Tigers remaining clear on top of the ladder without a loss and the Royals in last place without a win.

Claremont goal sneak Adele Arnup continued her impressive form in attack and kicked another three goals from six kicks and three marks with Brooke Whyte adding 23 possessions, seven marks and two goals.

There were plenty more standout performers for the Tigers with Jayme Harken also collecting 22 disposals, Matilda Sergeant 20, Sarah Viney 20 (nine tackles), Kate Orme 19, Jacinta Valentini 17 and Emily Elkington 17.

It was tough going again for East Perth and with just the seven inside 50s for the game, the Royals' back-line was under the pump and Sarah Madden did what she could and had 18 possessions and two marks.

Lillian Ninyett also had 12 disposals and four marks, Jessica Bolton 11 touches and three tackles, and Madeleine Goodman nine possessions and five tackles.

The job was ahead of East Perth up against the rampant Claremont and the Tigers weren’t in the mood to take it easy on the competition's newest team. Claremont was on the board in less than two minutes thanks to a goal to sharpshooter Adele Arnup.

The Tigers kicked a string of four behinds after that before Sarah Viney kicked their second of the game. Then after another run of three behinds, Emily Elkington closed the first quarter with a third goal for Claremont who went into quarter-time on top by 25 points.

It took less than a minute for the Tigers to get a fourth of the day into the second quarter thanks to Arnup. Jayme Harken and Brooke Whyte also kicked goals heading towards half-time to ensure Claremont was leading by 44 points having held East Perth scoreless.

From the first ruck contest of the first quarter, Claremont went forward immediately and Matilda Dyke kicked a goal in less than 30 seconds. White and Matilda Sergeant added a goal apiece before three quarter-time as well where the Tigers led the Royals by 65 points.

Arnup kicked another to give Claremont the fast start to the last term as well and further goals to Matilda Husband and Charlotte Tompkins saw the Tigers pile on 12 majors for the day, keep East Perth scoreless and win by 85 points.